Move Photos From iPhone to iCloud

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Move Photos From iPhone to iCloud

I'm trying to store 2 backup copies of 14,000 photos/videos from my iPhone so that I can clear space on my photo. One on my mac, one on iCloud. I managed to import all photos to my mac. There is a .photoslibrary file in my finder. Finder says it's 27MB. If I "Show Package Contents" there's about 250GB of photos.

I can't upload the images to iCloud photos because it won't let me upload .pngs or .heics (live photos), unless I turn on iCloud Photos in my phone settings, which syncs deleted photos, not what I want.

If I try to copy the .photoslibrary file to iCloud, it takes less than a minute, and the icon next to it in finder says "ineligible". The file only appears in iCloud Drive in my finder, not when I look in the drive via a browser or my phone.

Are the photos not actually in the package?

How do I store a copy of the photos on iCloud?

Posted on Jul 22, 2021 7:32 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 22, 2021 10:07 AM in response to Bkitko10

You can't store the photos library in an iCloud drive. (You also can't store it in a dropbox or google drive. They might let you, but more than likely the library would be damaged)

You would have to export the images from the photos app, and store them as individual files.

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Answer 2

Jul 22, 2021 8:59 AM in response to Bkitko10

Why not create an iCloud drive folder on your mac, and put them in that. That folder will be synced with iCloud. BUT bear in mind iCloud is NOT a backup.

If you accidentally delete files, then they will also be deleted in iCloud. It will protect you from drive failure though.

You should also maintain a backup of your mac on an external drive using time machine.

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Answer 3

Jul 22, 2021 9:03 AM in response to TonyCollinet

As a complete alternative, you can turn on iCloud sync on your mac and phone, but also turn on "optimise phone storage" on your phone. This then removes all full size masters from your phone, leaving only thumbnails and previews - dramatically reducing the size of your library. But it appears as though you still have all your photos on your phone.

If you do this though DONT delete them on your phone, since deletions (as you know) are also synced to iCloud and your Mac.

You should still maintain a proper backup of your mac.

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Answer 4

Bkitko10 Author

Level 1

13 points

Jul 22, 2021 9:39 AM in response to TonyCollinet

That's what I'm doing. That's what the screenshot is. It's not working.

I'm not trying to backup my entire device. I just want to copy/backup my photos and videos.

I don't understand why they don't work like any other file on any other drive, why I cant put them on my iCloud Drive.

I may cancel iCloud and pay for dropbox or google drive.

I have hard drives, I want a cloud backup (of photos).

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Move Photos From iPhone to iCloud

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